Doblin, Mithoefers, and Richards present at 17th International Transpersonal Conference in Moscow

From June 23-27, the 17th International Transpersonal Conference took place in Moscow. Vladimir Maykov, Ph.D. and Stanislav Grof, M.D. organized the conference. MAPS was represented by Michael Mithoefer, M.D., Annie Mithoefer, B.S.N. and Executive Director Rick Doblin, Ph.D. MAPS also sponsored the attendance of distinguished psychotherapist and researcher William Richards, Ph.D., from the Johns Hopkins psilocybin research team funded by the Council on Spiritual Practices and the Heffter Research Institute. Also in attendance was Evgeny M. Krupitsky, M.D., Ph.D, who along with Rick chaired the panel on psychedelic research.

In the 1990s, Dr. Krupitsky was the only researcher in the world conducting legal psychedelic psychotherapy studies; he was investigating ketamine-assisted psychotherapy as a treatment for alcoholism and heroin addiction. Sadly, in 2002, the Russian government ended his research and to this day psychedelic research is completely forbidden in Russia. Despite this obstruction of scientific freedom, the Russian and international attendees were especially eager to hear the speakers discuss psychedelic research taking place in the U.S.

Founded in 1986, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit research and educational organization that develops medical, legal, and cultural contexts for people to benefit from the careful uses of psychedelics and marijuana.